Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #40)

Released by Marston Records more info here

Listening to what are, by far, the nosiest CDs in my collection. I have tried (in vain) to make it through this 3CD set once or twice before and I am about to jump ship again.

 

A desert-island disc for me. Whoever got it has been given a great gift!

 

Adding to the EMI rant and the repertoire from your expired offer, I just found... guess what? *some mono fanfares for common men cedarized by EMI magicians* Another uber-budget EMI box set released recently.
Is it worth it, based on the included music & performances? I have only a minor number of these pieces - and the versions I have are different to these.

 

I'll betcha anything a pass through click repair would make it a survivable listening experience.

 

EMIscalation

Also, recently I came across this set of Broadway musicals. Has anybody got any experience with it?

 

I am fairly certain that Ward did what can be done with this stuff. Almost all of these sides were recorded prior to 1900.

 

"Gone With the Breeze—The Tale Of A Ding-Dong Daddy and a Southern Belle"

I karmically wouldn't have deserved it anyway, being stupid enough to sell my SACD version. However, I think I'd be Happiest with Lenny's indispensable Copland on LP. Have Copland's performance of the original orchestration on LP, works for me.

 

six of one, a half dozen of the other . . .

Really interesting. The recording is from Manhattan Center, 1962. I remember running across the "Royal Edition" series when it first appeared. There seemed to be both a smidgen more resolution and smoothness compared to the previous transfers on CDs. There was also a thin layer of Lexicon, easily audible via my Stax Earspeakers. I think this is one of the great recordings of this work right up until the final movement. What Bernstein brings to the first three movements is a really beautiful sound, very dynamic and much more variegated in tone than the traditional Brahms orchestral sound. He also has an uncanny gift for finding the true through-line in Brahms, the songfulness of his sometimes endless melodies. Although the final movement has all the virtues of the other movements, the line is stretched past the breaking point, attention is hard to maintain as the forward motion of the passacaglia grinds to a halt. Not that the final brass perorations aren't glorious. But this recording reminds of what I love about Toscanini's Brahms Fourth even while it has glories the NBC Symphony performance clearly lacks.

 

The Royal Editions were all remixed. They sound very good to me. I grab them whenever I see them for a good price.

 

I have the complete Sibelius symphony set by Lenny in the Royal Edition.

 

You would feel much worse when you add 10 to this ....

 

Absolutely, I have had the following CD and the movie on VHS for years ...

 

I have owned this CD shortly after it was released and perhaps HvK was still alive at the time. A real great recording IMO and fully reflects the dark mood of Tchaikovsky 6th ...

 

Really? Thank God the Nazi have left his final resting place alone ...

 

Indeed, but I was able to find the following CD in like-new condition at a reasonable price ...

 

And probably the Queens County ...

 

Talk about a dream team for this repertoire! Richter and Rostropovich recorded the premiere for the Prokofiev about 5 years before this recording. Found this CD in the bins earlier this week and I am enjoying it now. Can't find an image of the CD anywhere, but it looks almost exactly like this LP cover:

 

I want to follow up with Eddie on the issue of Sony being late to the big box party and Eddie disagreed with my view (found in the previous thread), though many of you probably share my view. While it is true Sony came out with the 80-CD Glenn Gould Original Jacket box, which I happened to get at a great price (at $109 from Amazon US plus free shipping) back in 2007, there had been no meaningful follow-through until the last two years while competitors like EMI and UniversalMusic have been pumping out big boxes like crazy. But when Sony started to release its big boxes in a big way, many of the boxes also do not have liner notes, a real bummer. All in all, Sony has been poorly run for the past 10 years. Apple and Samsung ate its lunch with the iPods and flat-screen TV. Sony got lucky by buying out the DSLR portfolio from Konica/Minolta when the latter ran into financial problems and therefore has been able to stay competitive with Canon and Nikon. I think Sony is pretty messed up in its classical music division.

Sony has lost its way since the passing of it founder Akio Morita. In fact, according to the book by Richard Osborne - Karajan, A Life in Music, Morita was among the last few people HvK saw right before his untimely death. In fact, there was a fairly good chance that HvK might jump ship to Sony from DG because he was seriously negotiating with Morita ...

 

Looks like another PREX find. No?

 

Academy.

 

Now playing the following CD, which just arrived from Presto two days ago for a first listen ...

 

I saw an Amazon listing by Academy where the asking price is pretty high, though not outrageous ...

 

No idea why I waited so long to play this. This is beautiful. Barcarolle in F-sharp major, op. 60.

 

I have been getting my share of used (mainly ULN) at the suggestion of our friend Jim and have done quite well so far, though I always wonder if you really get a better deal by buying used directly at a B&M store.

 

So "with the composer at the piano" means Shostakovich playing his own piece with Rostropovich? Fascinating, I never knew there were any recordings of him playing - how would you describe/rate him as a player?